Preview: Ajaccio vs. Lille - prediction, team news, lineups

Both sides are looking to bounce back from disappointing defeats last weekend.

Match preview

Competing in their first season back in France's top-flight since the 2013-14 campaign, it has been a tricky return to the elite level for Ajaccio thus far.

In fairness, the fixture list has done them very little favour, with two tough trips to Lyon and Rennes sandwiching a home match against Lens; three teams who have finished inside the top eight positions of the table in each of the last two seasons.

L'ours' 0-0 draw against Lens is the only point they have managed to pick up so far, but Olivier Pantaloni will be encouraged by his side remaining highly competitive despite losing 2-1 to Lyon and Rennes.

However, the 55-year-old may feel his side have missed two excellent opportunities to record an upset and gain points they were not expected to given that both Lyon and Rennes received red cards against them. In fact, Rennes ended Sunday's encounter with nine men after Romain Salin and Lesley Ugochukwu both saw red in the last 10 minutes of the match, but the visitors could not find an equaliser.

Pantaloni, who has been in charge of the club since 2014 having already had two spells with them previously, will demand a result from his side against Lille on Friday, otherwise a long, difficult season looks likely to be ahead of them.

After Lille gained four points from their first two matches, there was a degree of optimism that they could be competitive at home against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

However, Paulo Fonseca's side's gameplan went out of the window after Kylian Mbappe scored the fastest goal in Ligue 1 history, with the France forward latching onto Lionel Messi's delicious through ball to strike after just eight seconds.

Messi, Achraf Hakimi and Neymar each scored before half-time to embarrass the home side, with Mbappe helping himself to a hat-trick in the second half after goals from Neymar and Jonathan Bamba from either team.

Fonseca, who is in his first season with the club having had a year out of the game after leaving Roma, will have learned plenty from his team's crushing 7-1 defeat, and will demand a reaction against a side they will believe they should be beating on Friday night.

Ajaccio Ligue 1 form:

Lille Ligue 1 form:

Team News

Ajaccio do not appear to have any injury concerns at present, so Pantaloni may pick the same XI which was unfortunate to lose to Rennes.

Mounaim El Idrissy will hope to get himself on the scoresheet again having opened his account for the season last time out.

Lille, meanwhile, will travel without Timothy Weah as the forward has a foot injury.

Fonseca will almost certainly make a few changes to shake things up after their 7-1 defeat to PSG last time out, with Jonas Martin potentially replacing Angel Gomes to shore up the central midfield area.

Remy Cabella and Mohamed Bayo could return to the side having missed out against PSG, meaning Jonathan David may move to a wider role.

Ajaccio possible starting lineup:

Leroy; Alphonse, Gonzalez, Mayembo, Ismael; Bayala, Marchetti, Mangani, Cimingani; El Idrissy, Hamouma

Lille possible starting lineup:

Leonardo; Zedadka, Fonte, Ribeiro, Djalo; Andre, Martin; David, Cabella, Bamba; Bayo

We say: Ajaccio 1-2 Lille

We expect to see a reaction from Lille on Friday after their humiliatingly heavy defeat to PSG last weekend.

As such, another marginal defeat for newly-promoted Ajaccio may be on the cards, with Pantaloni facing an uphill battle to guide them to safety this season.

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